I consider myself among the most fortunate to have been blessed by Patricia Anne Florey. She carried many titles including, wife, mom, sister, aunt, “Mimi” and friend but the greatest title she carried for me was “The Queen.”

She always carried herself with poise and elegance, the perfect epitome of a lady. Her classy wardrobe with adorning jewelry coupled with her beautiful skin and hair was enough to catch even the complete stranger’s eye as she walked into any room, but it was her pure heart and fear of The Lord that set her apart as the true “Queen” that she was to so many.
As I began to ask The Lord for the words to share with each of you today, He quickly led me to Proverbs 31 – A Wife of Noble Character. As you read through the chapter, verse after verse begins to jump off the page as a description of the woman that we all knew and adored.
Here are the ones that stood out the most to me:
“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.” Proverbs 31:10-12
“She provides food for her family.” Proverbs 31:15
“She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.” Proverbs 31:17
“She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.” Proverbs 31:20
“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Proverbs 31:25-29
I don’t recall my life without Aunt Patti in it. She and my mom became dear friends when I was two and a half years old. When my dad battled his own Colon Cancer and my mom was by his side, Aunt Patti stepped in to ensure my sister and I had a safe place to lay our head, food to eat, a ride to school, and even drove us to countless dance lessons and cheer practices. We adored her. We looked up to her, and we even aspired to be like her one day when we grew up.

Our relationship continued to blossom as she began to pour into my own children with the same affection and love that she had poured out over Jess and me. Now my own children adore her, look up to her and aspire to be just like her one day.

Aunt Patti had that way about her. She was a friend to all. She met you where you were and did so, so very graciously. She never judged, always listened with empathetic ears, and spoke truth with gentleness and grace so you could hear it and receive it as a source to help you not to harm you. She has helped me in countless ways to be a stronger and better woman and mom from her rich counsel. I will never stop praising the Good Lord for allowing her to be the influence that she was to me and my family.

I will also never stop praising Him for giving me these past 6 weeks to walk alongside of she and Uncle Edward as they both fought valiantly against cancer. I witnessed so many beautiful and HOLY moments. We read Psalm 91 together. We worshipped together. We held hands, laughed, cried and prayed together. The last 2 verses of Proverbs 31 came alive for me in these past 6 weeks.
“Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.” Proverbs 31:30-31
There is no doubt that Patricia Anne Florey received her praise as she entered the city gate of her eternal home on Sunday, March 3rd, 2024. Many were there greeting and applauding her for being the light of Christ to all who knew her and most importantly her Savior, Jesus Christ. He was ready to see her face to face, so the perfect healing came.
Uncle Edward, I love you! Jeff and Chuck, you are my brothers in Christ and my Wordle Buddies for life! Kristen and Sheri, I am so grateful to have gotten to know each of you. Audra and Lakes, you had the very best Mimi. I hope she continues to inspire you and you hope to grow up to be just like her one day just like I did. Terry, I don’t have words for what you have meant to me and the family. You are stuck with me for life now. I can’t wait to have our weekends together. I love you!
To Dr. Syed, Dr.Vo, her other doctors, nurses, Purple Heart Home Health and Chambers Hospice Professionals you gave the very best care, and we are so grateful for you. To the community, THANK YOU! I have watched the body of Christ be what He designed it to be through so many of you. Thank you for the countless meals that have fed us, the friends that have showed up within 5 minutes of us calling, the flowers, cards, visits, all of it meant so much to the “Queen.”
Thank you, Lord, for the truth of your word and for giving each of us a living example of what this truth looks like in giving us Patricia Anne Florey. We are forever grateful. Amen!

This week at our High School we are celebrating “Self Confidence Week” thanks to our amazing FCCLA. All week long we have been dressing up to different themes each day to ROCK our confidence. I wish all it took was a week of dressing up and morning announcements to fix our insecurities. Unfortunately, it can take a lifetime of overcoming the whispers inside of our head, or from others, that tell us we are not enough.
So what’s stopping you today from walking in confidence? Stand up straight, put your shoulders back, chin up and walk in confidence!
This is the first time I have ever shared a picture of our Taylor Brooke publicly. We had a shadow box made with her keepsakes after we laid her to rest. We keep it safely tucked in the corner of our closet, so we will always remember. This time of year is when I think about her the most. Today would have been her 19th birthday!
Our Father is a comforter. He knows our hearts and when we are hurting. I am in awe to know that He can speak to us in a multitude of ways including a dream, a song, a verse, a friend, a sunrise, a sunset, through His creation. When I think back to my dream, I was surrounded by many people that I didn’t know and we were all there seeing “Selah” together. He wanted us all to stop and listen, so that’s why I open up my vulnerable heart to you on what would have been my daughter’s 19th birthday.
It’s been a month since I have written. I’ve been quiet. I’ve been listening. I’ve been praying and seeking. The past five years have been hard and down right exhausting. There have been moments where we wanted to quit, give up, and throw in the towel. By God’s grace, we have held on. He has shown up in amazing ways that have taken my breath away…those just in time…had to be The Lord moments. I know you have experienced them too. They are the lifelines that keep us holding on and pressing forward. I am so grateful that He sees and knows and understands what we are going through. Aren’t you?
So I started believing them. The minute I said yes to believing is when I started seeing His deliverance. He is making the way for my family. He is setting us all the way free. He is doing exactly what He said he would do, and all I can do is stand in AWE! He continues to speak to me through His word. Look at these words in Psalm 12: 5-8. As you know, ARISE is my word of the year. I felt The Lord asking me to ARISE and lift my head to Him at the start of this year. I have been working to arise, but I never thought that he would use that word to show me that HE is ARISING for ME! Seriously! Look at these words and let them soak in. This is The Lord we serve!!!
Have you ever thought about how you love others and the impact it makes on their lives? I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I just finished Bob Goff’s book, Everybody, Always. It’s challenged me to love more and deeper than I ever have before. I had a wonderful opportunity to be surrounded by my daughters and their friends for a week on the beach. I was determined to love them well. As it turns out loving others that look and act like we do is not where the challenge lies. It’s when we are faced with the ones that don’t that it becomes hard.
There were 2 thieves that hung on either side of Christ when he was crucified. They were guilty, He was innocent. He prayed that prayer not just for the criminals but for the ones that were crucifying Him, for you and me. Sometimes we can get so focused on pursuing justice and what is right that we forget that there are lives that need saving, forgiving and restoring. I don’t know what caused those girls to need and desire to steal, but I know that they are lavishly loved by a Father that can forgive and save them.
I love to people watch especially at the beach. The most amazing things happen when I am drawn into their world by observation. My imagination starts to kick in, and The Holy Spirit starts to speak. I never fail to receive a tremendous amount of love and overflowing joy when these moments take place. They are just too good not to share.
The most precious little girl came up with her bucket full of sand. The dad was already busy at work rebuilding the sandcastles as the little girl continued to fill her bucket and bring it to him. All of a sudden I could hear God’s whisper, “Don’t be afraid of those who cause destruction. I am your Father that can rebuild anything they destroy and build it better than before.” Friends, tears swelled. Ryan and I have experienced this kind of destruction in our own personal lives. We had built something that was special for Him. We were serving Him through it when destruction had been done and caused us to let go of it.
I continued to watch them throughout the rest of the day. The man had taken great delight and detail in making this set of sandcastles even better than the day before. I loved it. The little girl was so happy and carefree. She was without a worry in the world. When we trust our Father amazing things can happen. So what’s stopping you from getting out there and filling up your bucket today? Take your fruits of labor to Him and watch and see what He will do. He is able to do MORE than we ask or imagine. Trust Him!
They say a lot can happen in a year. I say they are right. One year ago we dropped this beauty off at basketball camp just like many parents do this time of year. On the very first day… on the very first jump shot she came down on her feet and felt a piercing pain. She knew something was wrong but was afraid to speak up and tell someone. She played all week on a double fracture to her back. She had to spend 12 weeks (3 months) in a back brace for 24 hours a day. She experienced being a part of the team from the sidelines cheering on her teammates instead of being in the game. She had to learn how to see things from a new perspective. She had to learn how to sing in the middle of her storm.
Do you know what happened to these merchants that were on the mighty waters right before they cried out to Him? Their courage melted away. They were at their wits’ end. (Psalm 107:26-27) Isn’t it funny how we have to come to the end of ourselves before we will look up and cry out for help. Some of you are in the middle of some pretty big storms. You’re still fighting against the raging sea hoping it will succumb to your ways. It’s important for us to remember that even the wind and the waves obey Him. He is the only one that can calm our storms.
We were on an old country road with nothing but green pastures on either side of us heading to College Station, TX to watch our daughter play for a State title. Ryan leaned in and said, “I really don’t know how I’m going to handle all of this pressure.” I was so glad he said it because I didn’t know how I was going to handle it either. We had watched countless tennis matches in our day, but none of them seemed to measure up to this.
They won that match in a 3rd set tie break. The victory was sweet. You can see the tears in her eyes after the win in this picture. They had made it to the finals after an amazing come back from behind WIN! All of us were starting to BELIEVE! Our FAITH was moving the heart of our God to perform a miracle that only He could do. Have you ever had faith to move God’s heart? When we BELIEVE in HIM and HIS abilities to do the impossible, we stir HIS heart to move on our behalf.